Sumatran Symbols Lacquer Tray*The Met Store Online

Our handsome lacquer tray bears celestial symbols adapted from a beautiful late 19th–early 20th century Indonesian lampit, or ceremonial mat, in The Met collection. Adorned with crescent moons amid birds in flight, the motif suggests the timeless relationship between Indonesia’s elite rulers and the universe’s cosmic order. Designed for spiritual leaders who presided over important ritual gatherings, such refined mats were woven from finely split cane fibers and adorned with burnt patterns made with a heated stylus.